Are high school jazz bands a thing of the past? Is jazz really fading — or just finding a new voice? High school students across the country say the answer is clear: Laufey’s latest album, A Matter of Time, is bringing jazz-inspired music back into the spotlight. From Illinois to Indiana, from Virginia to California, young reviewers describe the record as honest, experimental, and proof that jazz still resonates with their generation.
When Laufey released A Matter of Time on August 22, the Icelandic singer-songwriter once again pushed jazz into unexpected corners of today’s pop landscape. Already topping charts and streaming lists, the album has also sparked rich reactions from young listeners who see in Laufey both a bridge to the past and a voice for their generation.
From Classical Roots to Global Stardom
As Mercedez Ruiz at Lockport Township High School in Illinois notes, Laufey’s love of music comes naturally. Raised by a mother who was a classical violinist, Laufey trained on cello, piano, and guitar while her twin sister Junia studied violin.
That background carried her into a career that took off during the pandemic with online jazz covers and original songs, culminating in 2022’s Everything I Know About Love and 2023’s Grammy-winning Bewitched.
Now, A Matter of Time has debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200, with songs like “Lover Girl” and “Too Little, Too Late” already becoming fan favorites.
Experimenting with Sound and Story
Claire O’Connor in The Viking, the student newspaper at Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Virginia, emphasizes that Laufey’s third studio album is her “most experimental and lyrically vulnerable yet.” Singles like “Tough Luck” lean pop, “Lover Girl” nods to bossa nova, and “Clean Air” draws on folk influences.
This diversity shows an artist refusing to be confined to a single category, Claire tells us, calling the album Laufey’s best work so far: “It’s clear that Laufey enjoyed exploring more facets of herself as an artist. And she was certainly successful.”
Honest, Relatable, and Deeply Personal
Mahari Lunn at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis looks at the release from a different angle, highlighting how Laufey’s goal was “honesty” — and how she delivered.
Mahari points to tracks like “Castle in Hollywood,” a poignant reflection on the end of a childhood friendship, and “Snow White,” which critiques female beauty standards. The album is “an absolute masterpiece,” Mahari wrote, praising it for exploring more than the usual love stories: “It explores so much more than just a love story and breakups like usual pop albums.”
The Jazz Revival Debate
Finally, Tildyn Andrews at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California, places Laufey in the wider cultural context of jazz’s resurgence.
She notes the artist’s record-breaking streams, TIME magazine recognition, and role in reintroducing jazz to younger listeners. But she also acknowledges the debate: Is Laufey a “savior of jazz” or simply a gateway artist?
“I don’t consider my music jazz,” Laufey told TIME. “I record jazz standards, I can be a jazz singer, but 90% of what I put on my albums is not jazz music.”
Whether or not she fits neatly into the genre, Tildyn argues that her genre-bending style is what makes her so appealing to Gen Z.
A Cross-Genre Coming of Age
These student perspectives describe A Matter of Time as a coming-of-age project, as an album that weaves jazz, pop, classical, bossa nova, and folk into something unmistakably contemporary.
For Mercedes in Lockport, Illinois, it’s about bringing jazz to a new generation. For Mahari in Indianapolis and Claire in Loudoun County, Virginia, it’s about honesty and vulnerability. For Tildyn in California, it’s about redefining what jazz means today.
And across all four states, the verdict is the same: Laufey is giving Gen Z listeners a soundtrack that is timeless, experimental, and deeply human.